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I was chatting with a friend about setting F1 to rights and sorting out some of the simpler frustrations that could easily be resolved.... yes there was alcohol involved.
One he picked up on was at the end of the safety car period, the faffing around with lapped cars being released to overtake under yellow and pass the safety car.
He came up with a very simple solution that I thought was worthy of further consideration.
Approaching the point where the track is clear and lapped cars be allowed to pass, the safety car leads all but the lapped cars through the pitlane. The lapped cars are allowed to stay on track and accelerate past the pits. On leaving the pits the safety car continues to lead the pack at SC speeds, allowing those lapped the chance to "get away" but not necessarily catch the back of the pack.
The safety car completes its final lap in the fashion it does now, by turning lights off and sprinting away.
To me this does 3 things:
It removes the rather awkward looking slow speed passing under yellow and passing the safety car on track.
It adds to a definitive procedure for the end of any SC period, the fact that they are being lead through the pits is a clear "green next time around". (Obviously if there is no lapped cars then this is not required).
It would hopefully reduce the number of laps of safety car as we have sometimes seen lapped cars being released at the start of a lap, with the SC going another 2 or more laps (seems to be race directors discretion) before going green.
It may not be the biggest issue facing F1 but small steps.
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